D.A. CLEARS COP IN NONFATAL SHOOTING

San Diego police officer wounded man who attacked with a knife, just missing his face

A San Diego police officer was justified in shooting a man who came at him with large knife in March, missing the officer’s face by inches, the District Attorney’s Office has determined.

The nonfatal shooting occurred about 11:30 p.m. March 17 at 38th and Alpha streets in the Southcrest neighborhood of southeastern San Diego.

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis sent a July 19 letter of her findings to Police Chief Bill Lansdowne, saying Officer Eduardo Lopez “bears no criminal liability for his actions.” The chief made the letter public Wednesday.

Lopez, a three-year veteran, was alone on patrol when he went looking for a man reported to have flashed a gun at two brothers and threatened them. Lopez stopped 19-year-old Jeremy McIntyre, who matched the suspect’s description, the prosecutor’s report said.

Lopez saw some type of holster or sheath at McIntyre’s waistband, so he told McIntyre to raise his hands and turn his back to the officer. Instead, McIntyre, who was three to four feet away, pulled a dagger with a 6-inch blade from his waistband and swung it at the officer, the report said.

“It came within three inches of my face,” Lopez later told investigators. “I thought it was a knife or a gun. He swung it at my head and I moved back, drew my pistol and shot.”

Lopez fired twice. The report did not say where the rounds hit McIntyre.

The report said a small dagger was inside the handle of the larger knife, and inside the sheath were several metal spikes. McIntyre had methamphetamine in his system, the report said.

McIntyre remains in the hospital, district attorney’s spokesman Steve Walker said Thursday.